Commingling wild horses with cattle and sheep in established grazing areas is a mistake for scientific and financial reasons, and the Bureau of Land Management (‘BLM’) knows this fact.
Yet the BLM persists in the mismanagement of American wild horses. One could argue they don’t want to lose the $200-million/year in taxpayer funding for their gross mismanagement of the public’s iconic wild horses. And that by doing what’s right for the ranchers, the wild horses and American taxpayers, they’d lose their gravy train.
Making matters worse, there is a Plan that would greatly benefits all the stakeholders, except that the BLM would no longer need that $200-million to maintain the ongoing wild horse management boondoggle.
Two Important Reasons Why the BLM’s Management is Flawed:
1. In long-established livestock grazing areas, the presence of Apex predators is a serious financial issue due to the depredation (loss) of commercially valuable livestock. Accordingly, the USDA and ranchers engage in the removal of all such predators with great prejudice. This allows the populations of cattle and sheep flourish as does profitably.
However, keeping wild horses in the same grazing areas, commingled with livestock results in their populations growing unchecked as well, which is problem stemming from keeping the horses in the wrong environment, and has nothing to do with their rate of reproduction. Wild horses usually have a single foal, with a gestation period of 11-months.
2. Evolutionary-level genetic conservation (aka: ‘genetic vigor’) of American wild horses is highly dependent upon Natural Selection. The process of Natural Selection includes many environmental pressures, which includes the natural selection of wild horses by Apex predators. This process eliminates horses that, for one reason or another, shouldn’t be breeding. Causes might include things like old-age, poor immunity to disease, skeletal-muscular issues, vision and hearing issues, or neurological issues. This co-evolved prey-predator relationship is critical in order to maintain the genetic vigor of the species, and requires the presence of a balanced population of Apex predators in the habitats of wild horses.
The BLM lied to Congress in a written plan for managing wild horses, stating that:
“Wild horses have no natural predators …”, a false statement promoted by the BLM.
That false statement appears in the ‘Executive Summary’ – page 1, paragraph-5, of their so-called management plan that was presented to the Congress of The United States in writing titled; ‘Report To Congress – Management Options For A Sustainable Wild Horse And Burro Program’.
The truth is that bears, wolves, coyotes and cougars (aka: puma’s, mountain lions) all prey upon wild horses as this recent study shows:
The BLM has scientists who are keenly aware of the foregoing. Yet, they continue to lie to the public and mismanage wild horses by arguing they have no option except to keep wild horses commingled with commercial livestock on public lands. This a fraud being perpetrated upon American taxpayers and wild horse advocates, and is harming the property rights of American ranchers who are merely serving the demands of American consumers for products derived from American livestock producers.
And this is NOT a zero sum gain. This gross mismanagement of wild horses and livestock on public lands can, and should be a win-win situation for all stakeholders. The BLM intentionally lies by omission when they say they have no option for relocating wild horses outside of existing herd management areas (aka: ‘HMAs’).
In fact they even list one option for the redeployment of wild horses on their own website, which they never speak of publicly…
Read it HERE: https://www.blm.gov/policy/im-2022-035
The BLM is wasting about $200-million tax dollars annually by mismanaging America’s cultural-heritage wild horses in a manner that also adversely impacts our commercial ranchers and also increases the public’s exposure to catastrophic wildfire and deadly toxic smoke.
Ignoring truth leads to serious longterm problems for livestock producers. By using the truth to manage livestock and wild horses smartly, the long-term economic benefits can be preserved. However, when the BLM and/or ranchers make manifestly untrue statements, it erodes credibility and ultimately leads to cutbacks in livestock grazing permits, as well as a loss of public support.
The degradation of landscapes by grazing invasive species cattle & sheep has been a longstanding challenge for American land managers, going all the way back into the early 1900’s. And today, it is of particular concern for remaining pristine wilderness areas, which includes millions of acres of vacant, wildfire-prone lands managed by counties and states. This is why it’s critical to understand the importance of the anatomy (mouth and hooves) and digestive systems of ruminant cattle and sheep, as compared to American native horses, which co-evolved with American flora and fauna for millions of years.
What is an ‘invasive species’?
According to National Geographic’s encyclopedia:
“An invasive species is an organism that is not indigenous, or native, to a particular area.”
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Invasive Species Information Center:
“Domestic cows are non-native to North America and were introduced as a food source, and considered to be a beneficial organism in an agricultural setting.”
It’s apparent that the USDA realizes that the economically driven debate over the native species status of American wild horses is a political hot-potato, and have properly avoided listing the modern horse (E. Caballus) as a non-native species in North America at its website. Any such listing would be a fraud and the USDA scientists and lawyers know that much.
Yet the USDA does correctly list cattle as “non-native to North America”.
What the USDA intentionally omits is that those who ‘consider’ cattle as a so-called ‘beneficial organism’ are those people and entities who benefit from the commercial value of livestock production, sometimes even at the grave expense of the environment and other native species.And what about when cattle are intentionally managed outside the so-called “agricultural setting” as stipulated by the USDA, as when they are allowed to graze into non-agricultural wilderness and forest areas?
It’s not a valid argument (ecologically or morally) to suggest that the economic value of a non-native invasive species somehow warrants the mismanagement of any native species merely because a native species may lack commercial economic value such as the American Bald Eagle, or in the case at hand, the native species American wild horse.
MORE HERE –>> https://pagosadailypost.com/2023/06/12/opinion-lets-talk-invasive-species/
GRAZING COMPARISON: Cows vs. Horses
Watch this video and learn how cows graze vs. horses: https://www.facebook.com/HelpAlbertaWildiesSociety/videos/960055168432526
Cattle, sheep and goats are invasive species ruminants that science has shown damage the landscape and the seed bank, ultimately leading to barren ground, as well seen during the 1930’s midwest dust bowls, which triggered the passage of the Taylor Grazing Act.
The purposes of the Taylor Grazing Act was to stop injury to the public lands; provide for their orderly use, improvement, and development; and stabilize the livestock industry dependent on the public range. The new law effectively closed the rangelands to homesteading in the Dakotas and western states.
Encyclopedia of the Great Plains | TAYLOR GRAZING ACT
As Ranchers:
We can do much better and by doing so, preserve our ranching-grazing traditions, as well as ending the range-war by the intelligent management of our cultural-heritage American wild horses in a manner that is non-competitive for livestock grazing. This is easily accomplished via proper re-distribution of wild horses from areas of conflict with commercial enterprises, and re-wilding the horses into vacant wilderness lands where they manage wildfire fuels (grass & brush) in a cost-effective and ecologically appropriate manner via the Plan known as the Wild Horse Fire Brigade.
The Bureau of Land Management is mismanaging wild horses at many levels.
For instance, having 2/3rds of all American wild horses jammed into one state (Nevada) is the first of many examples.
The aggregate of herbivores in Nevada (deer, elk, horses, cows, sheep, rabbits and herbaceous insects) is causing over-grazing issues. Humanely removing and relocating most of the wild horses from Nevada, and redeploying (re-wilding) them as families into the remote vacant lands of the far-western states (CA & OR) that are plagued by massive wildfires fueled by grass & brush is a smart, cost-effective move. These lands (tens of millions of acres) are not suited for any commercial livestock production due to the extreme logistical costs stemming from few 4X4 roads into deep, rugged, remote wilderness, aggravated by rugged terrain that is filled with Apex predators, which are the co-evolved predators of wild horses. However, such lands are ideal for American wild horses, where they can live-naturally and in the process, manage grass & brush wildfire fuels.
Excellent article you covered it all very well!